The Daily

Believe It or Not, San Antonio Workers Are Making More Money

Congratulations, San Antonio – you're raking in the money at a faster rate than your peers at the state or national level. The problem is, your rake is smaller than theirs.

OK, enough with metaphors.

Wages for San Antonio workers have grown year-to-date by 5.2 percent, reaching an average of $24.12 an hour, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. That's compared to growth rates of 1.7 percent across Texas and 3 percent nationally.

Still, workers statewide and nationally are making more per hour than we are in San Antonio – an average of $26.04 an hour in Texas and $27.16 across the country.

Why is pay increasing so quickly in the Alamo City? Largely because employers are having a hard time finding workers to fill open positions. San Antonio's jobless rate was a mere 3.3 percent in September, according to the Dallas Fed.

"The San Antonio unemployment rate is significantly below the state rate and has held at or below 4 percent since 2015," said Christopher Slijk, an assistant economist at the Dallas Fed. "Given such a tight job market over a prolonged period, we would expect to see wages pick up as businesses try to attract more workers."